A backgammon tournament looks simple from the outside: boards, clocks, a bracket on the wall. Anyone who has run one knows better. Somebody has to book the ballroom, build the draws, chase late registrations, settle a clock dispute at midnight and make a first-time visitor feel at home. The 3rd Miami Open, running November 17 to 23, 2026 at Hilton Miami Aventura, is built by a team that has done all of that before.
This guide introduces the people behind the event, lays out the week's programme from the official timetable, and then turns to the three free Bet On Gammon fantasy contests, with the current opening prices for the players fans are most likely to discuss. If you only want to start drafting, our step-by-step How to Play Fantasy Backgammon guide has everything you need.
Miami Open 2026 at a glance
| Detail | 2026 Miami Open |
|---|---|
| Edition | 3rd Miami Open |
| Dates | Tuesday, November 17 to Monday, November 23, 2026 |
| Venue | Hilton Miami Aventura, 2885 NE 191st Street, Aventura, FL 33180 |
| Time zone | Eastern (America/New_York, EST) |
| Producer | Avi "Sheshbesh" Cohen |
| Head director | Ben Friesen |
| Headline events | ABT Open, Advanced and Intermediate; Players Cup (BMAB); Masters, Mega and Limited Jackpots; WWB Women's Cup; TBT No Cube; doubles; education |
| Tournament entry | Official registration at miamiopenbg.com (separate from free fantasy) |
Note the venue. The 2025 edition was played in Sunny Isles Beach; the 2026 tournament moves to Aventura. Results and history from last year are still useful context, but the hotel, schedule and fields are new.
The people building Miami
The official Miami Open team page lists a core group of producers and directors, supported by a wider crew that runs side events, registration and the guest experience. The page also credits the Cohen family — Avi, Meital, Shay Li and Emily — as the family behind the event's production. Each profile below links to that person's public sources.
The core team
Avi "Sheshbesh" Cohen
Tournament Producer
Avi Cohen is the founder of Backgammon Connection and, according to the Miami Open's own team page, a Florida backgammon champion. His work connects the pieces that bring new players into tournaments: instruction, online qualifiers and live events. As producer he leads the overall Miami Open project.
Ben Friesen
Head Director
Ben Friesen is a USBGF leader and an experienced American Backgammon Tour director, with a long record of directing events and supporting tournaments with technology. The Miami team page credits him with creating ABT Online during the pandemic. His public professional profile lists his work with the US Backgammon Federation and in event management.
Arda Fındıkoğlu
Tournament Adviser
Arda Fındıkoğlu brings international directing experience, including work at major European events such as Monte Carlo and Merit, according to the Miami team page. A World Backgammon Federation feature describes his training as an engineer and how he applies that discipline to organising professional tournaments.
Frank Frigo
Boot Camp Director
Frank Frigo is a two-time World Backgammon Champion, winning in 1994 and again in 2023, as his own website records. Outside backgammon he works in decision science and game strategy, including analytics work in the NFL. That background suits a teaching role: a boot camp built by someone who thinks about decisions as probabilities and trade-offs, not just memorised plays.
Directors behind the competition and community
Roberto Litzenberger
Players Cup Director
Roberto Litzenberger coordinates the Players Cup, which combines competitive match play with recorded games analysed for separate BMAB performance ratings. His USBGF profile describes his work with tournament data and his role in recording and transcribing matches, and the Players Cup circuit credits him on its event flyers.
Remington Davenport
Social Media Director
Remington Davenport founded the NYC Backgammon Club in April 2023 and was elected to the USBGF board of directors for a three-year term beginning December 11, 2025. At Miami, Remington leads social media, connecting the event with players and fans following the week.
The wider crew
Behind the directors, a named crew handles side events, registration, guest experience and newcomers. Each role links to the official team page, where the organisers introduce everyone.
Nano Cabrera
Side Events Director
Runs the side-event programme around the main brackets.
Leroy Whyte
Side Events Assistant
Supports the side-event programme.
Isabella Henao
Registration, translation, table setup and accessories
Covers registration, translation, table setup and accessories.
Rakel Amira
Guest Experience Director
Leads the guest experience for players and visitors.
Alexandra Aragon
Novice Social Event Director
Directs the novice social event for newer players.
Shay Li and Emily
Tournament entertainment and energy
Credited with tournament entertainment and energy, and part of the producing Cohen family.
Why the people behind the boards matter
Players remember the matches, but the experience of a tournament is decided long before the first roll. A good director publishes clear start times and sticks to them, so a player in the Masters Jackpot knows when to be seated. A good registration desk means the brackets start on schedule. A good side-event programme means a player knocked out on Friday still has meaningful backgammon to play on Saturday.
Miami's team covers each of those jobs explicitly. There is a head director and an international adviser for the competition, a dedicated Players Cup director for the decision-quality event, a boot camp director for education, and named owners for side events, registration, guest experience and novices. That structure is what lets a seven-day festival host an ABT Open, three jackpots, a women's cup, doubles and teaching without one part crowding out another.
For fantasy players there is a practical benefit too. Clear, dated start times give each of our contests a firm lock, and published results give us an official record to score from.
The November programme
These are the key dated starts from the USBGF timetable, in Eastern time. Check the official schedule for the full list of rounds and side events, as organisers can adjust details.
| Date | Key start (EST) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Tue Nov 17 | — | Boot Camp (education programme) |
| Wed Nov 18 | 11:00 AM | Players Cup (BMAB) |
| Wed Nov 18 | 7:30 PM | First starts for the Masters, Mega and Limited Jackpots; TBT No Cube |
| Thu Nov 19 | 6:00 PM | Doubles |
| Fri Nov 20 | 11:00 AM | ABT Open, Advanced and Intermediate: first play |
| Sun Nov 22 | 12:00 PM | WWB Women's World of Backgammon Cup |
| Sun Nov 22 | Evening | Awards ceremony |
| Mon Nov 23 | — | After-event play |
The Mega Jackpot and Masters Jackpot are separate events on the 2026 schedule. Tournament entry fees and divisions are set by the organisers on the registration page; nothing in our fantasy game is connected to them.
2025 in context
Last year's Miami Open produced a strong honour roll. The USBGF results page records these winners:
| 2025 event | Winner | Runner-up | Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABT Open | Petko Kostadinov | David Wells | 97 players + 37 rebuys |
| Super Jackpot | Kit Woolsey | Ethan Wen | 48 |
| WWB Cup | Amber Callahan | Jeanna Kish | 24 |
| Mega Jackpot (separate event) | Steve Sharokh | Masayuki Mochizuki | 16 |
Petko Kostadinov, Kit Woolsey and Amber Callahan are the 2025 champions of their divisions. We have not verified whether these players have entered for 2026; the draft pools currently mark them unconfirmed.
Fantasy: three free contests for Miami
Bet On Gammon runs three free-to-play fantasy contests for Miami, using virtual points only. There is no entry fee, no wagering and no cash prize, and the contests are not run or endorsed by the organisers or the USBGF. Our earlier launch story covers the contest rules and the 2025 history badge in more detail.
About the prices below. They are the opening Fantasy Credit (FC) prices for each contest, checked October 21, 2026. They are a dated launch-market snapshot, not cash amounts and not official rankings, and they can change prospectively before lock; a price saved in your lineup does not change. Recent 2026 ABT form leads the model, while 2025 Miami history is shown only as context. Every name here is a draft candidate: no 2026 Miami entrant list has been verified, so all players carry the unconfirmed badge.
Super Jackpot (Miami Masters Jackpot)
Super Jackpot is our familiar fantasy category. On Miami's 2026 schedule, the event we cover is the Masters Jackpot; the separate Mega Jackpot is not scored. Lineups lock Wednesday, November 18 at 7:30 PM EST.
| Player | Opening price | Why they stand out |
|---|---|---|
| Maeis Petrosian | 12,750 FC | Most recent Super Jackpot winner, at the 2026 Las Vegas Open |
| Kit Woolsey | 12,500 FC | Won the 2025 Miami Super Jackpot |
| Marty Storer | 11,250 FC | Among the top opening prices in this pool |
WWB Women's Cup
The WWB pool includes only players on our maintained list of documented women's-event participants; we never assume eligibility from a name. Lineups lock Sunday, November 22 at 12:00 PM EST.
| Player | Opening price | Why they stand out |
|---|---|---|
| Kara Schultz | 10,250 FC | Won the 2026 Las Vegas WWB Cup |
| Lynn Ehrlich | 10,000 FC | Among the top opening prices in this pool |
| Carol Joy Cole | 8,500 FC | Runner-up in the 2026 Las Vegas WWB Cup |
| Amber Callahan | 5,500 FC | 2025 Miami WWB winner; priced at the neutral pool baseline |
Amber Callahan's 5,500 FC is the neutral baseline given to players new to the pool, not a judgement on her form. It is one of the more interesting value decisions on the board.
ABT Open (Main Event)
The Main Event has its own fantasy lineup, player prices and leaderboard. Lineups lock at the first play time, Friday, November 20 at 11:00 AM EST, not at the later bracket starts.
| Player | Opening price | Why they stand out |
|---|---|---|
| Cary Hoarty | 12,750 FC | Won the 2026 Las Vegas ABT Open |
| Kit Woolsey | 12,500 FC | Among the top opening prices in this pool |
| Bill Calton | 10,000 FC | Among the top opening prices in this pool |
| Petko Kostadinov | 6,500 FC | 2025 Miami ABT Open winner |
Prices are contest-specific, so the same player can cost different amounts in different contests. Always check the price in the contest you are drafting.
How to enter in five steps
- Open a contest's team builder from the buttons above.
- Pick six different players with a combined price under 50,000 FC.
- Stay within the limits: at most two former Monte Carlo World Champions and at most three players priced above 9,000 FC.
- Name one captain, who scores 1.5× points.
- Sign in with email, accept the free-play terms and submit. You can edit until that contest locks.
Want the full walkthrough, including scoring and badges? Our How to Play Fantasy Backgammon guide covers every step.
Reader FAQ
Is fantasy entry the same as tournament registration?
No. To play in Aventura, register with the organisers on the official Miami Open site. Fantasy entry is free, separate and doesn't require attending.
Are the players in these tables confirmed to play?
Not yet. They are draft candidates. A player who doesn't play scores zero, and there are no automatic substitutions, so check back before lock.
What does the 2025 badge mean?
It marks one of the 22 verified 2025 placers in the same division. It covers placers, not the whole field, so no badge does not mean a player was absent. It adds no points and doesn't confirm 2026 attendance.
New to backgammon?
Start with our Beginner's Guide to Backgammon and the Rules of Backgammon reference, both linked below this story.
See you in Aventura
Whether you are heading to Hilton Miami Aventura or following from home, the Miami Open team has built a full week of backgammon. Register for the tournament through the official site, then set your fantasy lineups before each lock.
